By Dr Ashraf Abul Saud
Opened in Khartoum in 1902, Gordon Memorial College was more than just an educational institution established by the British to satisfy the educational needs of the Sudanese. It was in fact a colonial policy tool for creating a new Sudanese elite and influencing their cultural and political consciousness.
In this, the college weakened historical ties with Egypt and consolidated the separation of the two countries of the Nile Valley.
This process was not based on direct confrontation or anti-Egyptian rhetoric, but relied on progressive educational and administrative influences based on rearranging and reorganising knowledge sources, employment opportunities and influence centres.
The college was established under the dual system of government, declared in 1899, while actual control over its administration and policies remained in the hands of the British.
With Egypt declaring its independence in 1922, it turned from a sultanate into an independent kingdom headed by King Fuad I.
However, Britain maintained control over communications to ensure their security, including in relation to the Suez Canal, a strategic artery of communication between Britain and its colonies in Asia.
It also claimed sole responsibility for defending Egypt against foreign aggression, and protecting foreign nationals and minorities – pretexts Britain routinely used to justify interfering in internal Egyptian affairs.
The British succeeded in excluding Sudan from Egypt’s independence, thus usurping Sudan’s right to self-determination, even without resolving the constitutional and political relationship between Egypt and Sudan.
These issues were included in the third clause of the British declaration.
They were not part of any bilateral agreement with Egypt as some Sudanese figures like to claim.
Sudan’s exclusion from Egypt’s independence arrangements was a calculated tactic to drive a wedge between Cairo and Khartoum, enabling the British administration to formulate a political and administrative reality separating Sudan from Egypt, disregarding the historical, geographical and social ties binding the two peoples.
Gordon Memorial College played a role that extended far beyond traditional education.
It prepared local cadres needed by the administration and also created a new elite that was institutionally and professionally linked to the interests of British rule.
This manifested itself in the gradual replacement of Egyptians by Sudanese employees within the administrative apparatus.
The British administration used newspapers, such as al-Hadara, as a tool to influence public opinion in Sudan. This newspaper was one of the most important in Sudan. Published in Arabic, it was associated with most anti-Egypt campaigns, as documented by Moritz A. Mihatsch’s study on Sudanese politics at that stage.
The year 1924 was a decisive turning point in this policy. After the assassination of Lee Stack in Cairo on November 19, Britain issued a stern ultimatum demanding that Egypt withdraw its officers and army units from Sudan.
The British administration used the repercussions of 1924 to redevelop its educational policy.
As historian Lillian Sanderson noted in her study on the revolution’s impact on education, resources allocated to advance education and primary education for boys declined, while much attention was shifted to religious education in rural areas and the development of education in the south and the education of girls in the North.
The graduates of Sudanese educational institutions saw this policy as an attempt to deprive them of the opportunity to participate in the administration of the country.
These policies revealed that education remained subject to the political and administrative considerations of colonial rule,
regardless of the actual needs of the Sudanese society.
In the memorandum of British colonial administrator Harold MacMichael, who played a prominent role in the British administration in a number of colonies and mandated areas, dated January 15, 1930, trends emerged calling for the construction of separate and self-sufficient ethnic or tribal units in southern Sudan by reducing the use of Arabic and encouraging English instead and severing northern social, cultural and religious influences.
Sudan’s elite was not a passive recipient of these policies, but the system produced an intellectual class that used its education to drive the national movement against colonialism.
At the institutional level, Gordon Memorial College witnessed successive transformations that reflected the changing needs of government and society.
In 1924, it was transformed into a secondary institution, then vocational, scientific, and humanities faculties were established – spanning law, agriculture, veterinary medicine, science, engineering and the arts, during the second half of the 1930s.
In 1947, the college was associated with the University of London before it was transformed in 1951 into the University College of Khartoum and then became the University of Khartoum in 1956 with the independence of Sudan.
Dr Ashraf Abul Saud
Writer and an international relations scholar
[email protected]
